


carry me to the afterlife, ferryman.

by prettyusagi



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Adult Arcobaleno (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Arcobaleno (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!) As Family, Arcobaleno Curse (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Flame Harmonization (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Gen, Nonbinary Mammon | Viper, Skull (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!)-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:42:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26580847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettyusagi/pseuds/prettyusagi
Summary: The Cloud Arcobaleno was the last one to die in the Future That Never Was.In the present, he was the first.Skull De Mort was finally at peace.
Relationships: Arcobaleno & Skull (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Arcobaleno/Skull (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Death & Skull (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 379





	carry me to the afterlife, ferryman.

The Cloud Arcobaleno was the last one to die in the Future That Never Was.

In the present, he was the first.

It starts like this.

**_"Lackey!"_ **

**_"You need to toughen up!"_ **

**_"This? This is what we have to work with?"_ **

**_"You don't deserve to be here."_ **

**_"Don't get in our way, civilian."_ **

**_"Come now, Skull can't help to be the way he is now could he?"_ **

**_"If it wasn't for your flames, I would've killed you."_ **

Skull De Mort was known by various names in his furiously long lifetime.

_Actor._

**The youngest Arcobaleno**.

_Stuntman._

**Purest Flames among the Strongest Seven.**

_Friend._

**Useless Civilian.**

_Carcassa Don._

**The Lackey.**

_Comrade_.

**The Weakling.**

All were over shadowed by one, that _cursed_ title.

**_World's Strongest Cloud._ **

Skull both loved and loathed his puple flames, it was who he was yet he was constantly pressured to change, he never should've went to that meeting, world balance be damned.

But the only thing Skull had was his Flames, and without it, he was just another extra in their carefully planned movie.

And so Skull De Mort endured.

He dodged Rebron's bullets and poisonuous words that seemed to hurt more than the gun pointed at his head. He yelped and jumped around, feeling like a Jester than a Guardian.

He laid bare of his shirt at a medical table, tiredly letting Verde hook multiple wires onto his body, he tried to escape. _He wasn't very successful._

He accepted Luce's distant smiles and noncommital scolding to the other's antics. She always said that she's a neutral ground yet he always noticed her nodding in approval.

He swallowed his complaints when Viper charged him with anything, maybe they needed money more than he did? And so he hands the crumpled bills, ignoring the clawing of his stomach.

He _almost_ wished Fon would participate in the torture, his tiny grins hidden by his tang suit does nothing to comfort him, but then again maybe it wasn't meant to be? Maybe it was meant to be condescending.

Lal was like an older sister. A strict, demeaning, _abusive_ , older sister. She would constantly belittle him, and hit him in the guise of 'training' him. Skull would rather not have siblings then.

( _At the time, he didn't know the horrors of blonde hair and blue eyes and **blood lust** )_

Skull wondered why they hated him so much? Was it because they thought he was riding on their coattails? Perhaps it was because he didn't have to work so hard to get to that _damned_ meeting. Maybe it was because they thought he was a weak and spineless civillian?

Or was it because _he_ was named the Strongest Cloud?

Skull does not know, and thinking about it too much causes his wounds to throb numbly and a coil in his ribs _tightens_.

_Skull would later learn that the coil was their bond, wrapping itself around his heart so that he may never escape. ~~How fitting.~~_

However, Skull De Mort grew tired.

  
Then the Future That Never Was happened.

Skull was the last Arcobaleno alive, and he could feel five severed bonds deep inside of him, he had two bullets lodged on the left side, a glass dagger on his right, below was a syringe, and shot right through was a long jian, Skull literally couldn't breathe, not without feeling the various sharp objects further dig themselves further. 

Skull faced Byakuran in apathy, eyes faraway and empty, he didn't care anymore, he had no more to gain, and no more to lose. He was actually hoping, _expecting_ that the Gesso Boss could actually kill him.

But of course, Byakuran didn't make it so easy.

_**"Seems like the Little Cloud is all alone now huh? I've watched you die in every dimension I see, and this is no different,"** he grins, teeth seemingly turning into fangs, **"** **I'm going to have so much fun breaking you~"**_

And he suffered through broken bones and bruised skin and four days of Anti Trinisette radiation before the thick bond in his heart snapped, he knew he was going to die again, and this time he would never _wake up_.

  
Skull was stuck in a limbo that lasted a month but felt like twenty-four hours.

Skull struggled to open his eyes, yet he can't seem to move his body and his head was pounding, further waking him up. 

What happened? Did he drink the night before? Maybe he was hungover? Or overdid training again? Or perhaps another Carcassa member drugged him again to sleep? 

He groaned loudly, hoping Oodako could hear him and help him up, he even found the strength the reach out, patting the space that his familiar may be, and a tentacle wraps around his wrist. He made a pleased noise and pulled the tentacle further, pushing Oodako onto his chest.

" _Do you feel better now, Skull?"_ The octopus asks, and he just shakes his head.

 _"I imagine you are unwell,"_ he quips, gently carding a tentacle through his hair.

A comfortable silence looms over the room, with the faint whirring of the AC and rising and falling of Skull's breath.

_"Skull, I need you to look at me,"_

"Wha-" 

_"Skull De Mort, I need you to understand this,"_ his familiar cups the sides of his face, " _Do you remember anything?"_

"No? Am I drunk? My head still hurts," Skull whispers.

" _Skull, you need to remember, you **need** to,"_ Oodako pleads to his master.

"Why don't you just tell me? If it's so important," Skull snaps back.

 _"I can't, it's **you** who needs to figure it out, one hint though, Vongola," _The octupus provides him.

And like a tidal wave, his memories come crashing down.

The Arcobaleno dying left and right. The Tenth Generation fighting against the Funeral Wreaths. _His Death._

And his eyes blaze like hellfire, _it's all_ _Tsunayoshi Sawada's fault._

He finally died! That was all he was asking for! Why couldn't they grant him peace!

He never hated a kid so much before (he doesn't really, in fact he adores Tsuna, but _still,_ it hurts, he felt cheated.)

He gets a letter from Tsunayoshi, inviting him to a party, celebrating the success of the Future, _he almost wants to rip apart the paper, but what use would that do?_

And so when the night falls, he leaves.

  
The ballroom was wide and could fit all of Vongola, Varia, CEDEF, and The Arcobaleno with space to spare, yet all Skull could feel is suffocation and a heavy weight in his chest.

After about two hours of empty eyes and tight smiles and loud laughter, Skull had enough.

He finally stepped out, in the guise of getting some air, people wouldn't notice anyways.

And he jumped down the balcony, feet taking off, far away from the building.

And the further he ran, the more his heart felt lighter in twenty years, he was breathless when he reached the clearing, but it was worth it.

Skull knew the Arcobaleno was entitled to at least an explaination from him, but for once, in his life, let him not give them what they deserve. _Just this once._

He roughly sat down under a tree, and pulled out a knife, _Holy shit_ , he was actually doing this, he feels childish glee fill his insides, and he runs a hand over his heart.

_This must be the God's parting gift to him, making him feel happiness for one final time._

And so he starts sketching, with his blade as the brush, he so _carelessly_ moved around, and veins in his arms as the ink, spilling his truth and mixing with his tears.

_Gaia, if this will give me freedom, then take me, take all of me._

The blade drops as his hands loosen, head tipped up to the sky, _Please set me free._ he pleads to the heavens, praying to God's he didn't believe in, and with one last look at the seven scratches on his wrist, each one deeper than the previous, he smiles. _Farewell, My dear Rainbow._

_Yellow_. Reborn felt a sharp _snap_ inside of him and he immidiately searches for his fellow Ex-Arcobaleno's, counting their heads like a madman, **there is something wrong, TellMePlease** , **I'llFixItIPromise _._** _ **One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six. NO!**_

 _Red_. Fon was already frowning when the party started, **_Nothing feels right._** false smile and an uneasy ache in his lungs, like he was swallowing sand, hands clutched tightly into his sleeve, he briskly walks away, the first Arcobaleno to do so. _**EscapeFasterBurnTheRoom NORUN**_

 _Blue. _Colonnello lurches forward, as a ghost of a bullet buries itself in his ribs, and he struggles to catch his breath, _**What happened?**_ His eyes unfocus, glossing over his body, **_NotHurtThen WhosInPain?_** He feels his Storm brush past him and he _knows_ he should follow, and so he does.

 _Green._ Verde nods at his Sun when they make eye contact, pulling out his tablet, ignoring the shaking of his fingers and his quick breaths, _**Who is hurt? TreatThemImmidiately.**_

 _Violet_. Viper stumbles, almost loses focus from levitating themselves, and they hiss, combing the entire hall, not really knowing the reason behind the action. **_HintOfFamiliar PurestPurpleFlames_**

 _Orange_. Aria looses feeling in her legs, dropping to her knees. **_ChestAchingWhy. _**she was like an apartment to their dynamic, not a permanent Home, and she's long accepted her fate, so she loved them like a one loved a distant relative, she cared, just not enough. 

In one shared breath, they finally realize, one is _missing_ and hell be damned, they will find Skull De Mort.

They rush outside in a organized manner, leaving behind Aria, as she was still pregnant, and hurriedly ran, following the faint purple string, leading them somewhere.

_**PLEASE GOD, IF YOU ARE TRULY REAL, GUIDE US TO HIM, PLEASE LET HIM LIVE** _

  
The Arcobaleno find him slumped against a tree, to an outsider, it may look like he's asleep, but they knew better, and as if mocking them, the blunt knife plunges deeper into their bonds, knocking air out of their lungs.

The thing is with blunt knives is it _hurts_ so much more than a sharp one, a freshly honed blade can pierce through flesh with an simple swing, making blood drip down and cut veins; But a dull knife can take a few slashes before breaking skin, leaving behind jagged edges, and severed bonds.

" _This is what Skull went through, only six times worse!"_ A voice hisses at them, noticing Oodako beside his partner, guarding him. " _Do you understand now? Skull loved all of you so much that he carried that pain for eight months! All by himself! And you have the nerve to call him weak!"_

Skull had his face tilted to his right, and leather suit opened all the way down to his chest, ~~**_ScarsOhGodSoMuchScarsAllTooDeep_**~~ and they could see flower vines wrapped around his body, a small bloomed rose on top of his head, contrasting with his hair. 

And in that moment they knew, they have lost the only good thing in this _cursed_ lifetime. **~~_SoMuchPainItHurtsSoColdNoWarmth_~~**

_Is the future really worth living through if you're not there?_

_Tell us Little Cloud, the missing element in the sky, do you actually think we are genuinely complete without you?_

  
The truth was, Death didn't hate Skull De Mort, _oh no_ , Death itself loved him, for it was the only thing that will accept him for who he was and who he is.

Death loved Skull De Mort so much that it gave him a painless way to heal his hurt.

And Death would never claim anyone of the remaining six anytime soon, _"_ _Let them suffer!"_ it snarled, _"_ _Let them pay the price of their foolish actions!"_

Death guarded Skull De Mort even in the afterlife, and in a white boat streaming through the river Styx, a purple haired man dressed in a black suit lay, eyes closed, bare of make up and piercings, and hands in his chest, holding six white tulips, surrounded by a bed of purple hyacinths, being rowed by a dark hooded figure.

**_Skull De Mort was finally at peace._ **

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading! come yell at me on twitter @/prettyusagi_ if u want hehe~


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